THE MOMENT
"Okay, I think I'm caught up...," Orryn kept his voice to a low whisper out of embarrassment. If he understood the situation correctly, he had nothing to be shy about. But, he couldn't shake the feeling that he sounded crazy just by speaking aloud. "...this is like a work party for you, right?" he asked Justice. The pink-haired woman with braided pigtails nodded.
"But, work for you is teaching students from other universes; so we're in an alternate universe right now, right?" he looked out over the balcony at the golden sun dipping into the purple ocean. He could hear the idle chatter of the rest of the guests behind him. On the one hand, he wished Justice didn't spring all of this on him on their second date. On the other hand, he was glad she had proof for everything she revealed to him. "And, even though New Year's Eve is still a month away on my Earth, time moves differently on different Earths, so it's actually New Year's Eve here?"
"Yes, and no," Justice nodded. "Time does move at a different pace for each Earth; but, there's a standardized time zone that keeps everything in sync. It's called SST, or Sharp Standard Time. So, it's not just this Earth that's celebrating, tonight marks the end of the year for every Earth on SST."
"And it's going to be 2023 everywhere?" Orryn asked. Justice shook her head.
"SST really only keeps days in order. But there are too many variations between the years on Earths to keep them consistent. There are just as many futuristic Earths as pre-historic ones and it'd be impossible to say they're all in 2022. But, this Earth is finishing up 2022," she said.
"Amazing...," Orryn didn't have another word he could use. He had no idea how much his life would change once he met Justice, but he was glad he did. Everything felt real, and normal even. But, he was standing in an alternate universe at a party with some very supernatural guests, not to mention his own date. He shook his head and chuckled in amusement. "...you know...you telling me you're a werewolf is actually the most normal thing I've experienced tonight."
"You've only been to one other universe," Justice giggled. "You've got a lot more to see next year."
"Bring it on, I'm ready," Orryn stood up straighter and flashed a grin at Justice. Then, a sudden commotion drew their attention. Orryn looked over and saw the guests crowding around the center of the outdoor patio.
"10!" the countdown began. Justice was quick to hook her arm in Orryn's and move them closer to the crowd.
"9!" they continued as Justice and Orryn reached the group.
"8!" this time Orryn and Justice joined in the count.
"7!" Justice gave him a smile as she leaned into his shoulder.
"6!" Orryn had a sudden insight and he turned back to the ocean. The sun still hadn't finished setting behind the horizon. "huh?" he gave Justice a look of confusion as he nodded toward the sun.
"5!" everyone except Orryn counted. Justice giggled and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "SST, remember?"
"I guess...," he thought he had it for a moment; but, counting down to midnight while the sun was still technically out threw him off.
"4," he mumbled weakly with everyone else's count.
"3!" the group shouted. Orryn was trying to make peace with not having to know everything at that moment. He decided to focus on the good things.
"2!" he was surrounded by a group of friendly people with a very attractive woman very close to him. He may not have known exactly where he was; but, there were worse ways to bring in the new year.
"1!" Orryn shouted as energetically as the rest of the group. No matter what the new year brought, he wasn't going to let confusion slow him down. He felt like he was becoming a new man and all it took was being with the right people at the right time. He knew things would be different now. They had to be. Instead of 'zero' on the next count, everyone cheered instead. Justice hugged Orryn and echoed the same greeting that everyone else was shouting.
"Happy 2053!" she said.
"What?" that was an unexpected comment and Orryn pulled away from her instantly; it was hard to enjoy the moment when he missed 30 years in the blink of an eye. "WHAT?" he turned and looked out over the ocean. The sun had set; but, there were hundreds of lights out on the water that weren't there before. Dozens of futuristic jet boats hovered on the water while other jet cars gracefully floated past the balcony they were on. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!??" he shouted loud enough to quiet the rest of the party.
"What do you mean?" Justice asked. "It's a new year...," she said.
"A new year??" Orryn gestured at a car flying by. "It's supposed to be 2023! It's been 30 years!" he said. The gathered guests shared a laugh, then they started their own conversations again while Justice focused on Orryn.
"Why is time so difficult for you to understand?" she asked. "You didn't lose 30 years if that's what you're worried about."
"So, explain it to me then," Orryn said. "It was 2022 a few seconds ago, you said so yourself. How is it 2053 now?"
"They're just numbers...," Justice said. "They're for documenting, keeping track of things. The order doesn't actually matter if the rest of the system is organized."
"Then, why is everything futuristic now? It wasn't a little while ago...," he asked. Justice nodded.
"When I told you that each Earth has its own time, I actually meant they have their own timeline. By the time this Earth reaches 2053 naturally, they'll have flying cars and all that. So, since it's 2053 now, there you go."
"But.. it didn't reach it naturally...," Orryn argued. Justice giggled and shook her head.
"Of course it did. Once the timeline is complete, it can be replayed in any order," she said.
"What?" Orryn felt like he was getting more and more lost.
"Oh, don't worry about it tonight," she said. "I'll take you to Mundo tomorrow morning; you'll get all your questions answered there."
"Just one more to make sure I've got this right...," he asked. Justice nodded.
"You're a werewolf, and I'm in another universe. So, right away things aren't normal.... so, you're saying that someone, somewhere, has the power to rearrange time so that it happens in any order??"
"Yeah," Justice nodded. "My boss, Ms. Sharp did it," she said.
"Why?" Orryn asked. Justice giggled.
"Just for fun, for this party," she said. "It gets kind of boring having to do things in order all the time."